Some sobering thoughts, wry toasts, and dry humor inspired by the golden anniversary of Repeal
The surest sign of impending death was the skin’s ghostly bluish tint, a pall of sickness that soon, even before the onset of rigor mortis, would turn deep purple and then slate gray. The technical term for the discoloration — first in the lips and ears — was cyanosis, a condition brought on by inadequate oxygenation of the blood.
In an era of prosperity and peace, of sporty cars and speakeasies, of Calvin Coolidge and Al Capone, he led a fashion-conscious city through the Roaring Twenties. His name was Julius Garfinckel, and in his time he reigned as the merchant prince of the nation’s capital.